Day Trading & Forex Forum

clylbw

Hi,

I am finally about to trade Eminis with IB, and would like to clarify several points before I start:

1. Apparently the normal market hours for Eminis is 9:30am to 16:15pm EST. With IB, can I trade before 9:30am? I have also heard that trading Eminis is not permitted between 15:45 to 16:15pm for some accounts. Is it true? What should I do if I wish to trade between 15:45 and 16:15pm EST?

2. Suppose I have sent a market order through TWS. The order is filled and becomes a trade without a stop. Later, can I add a stop to this trade? If so, how may I do so via TWS?

3. Suppose I have a long position at the moment. What is the fastest way for me to change my position into a short one, with the same size?

Many thanks in advance.

JonnyT

1) Yes you can trade ES before 09:30. At 15:45 the margin requirement is greater. If your account doesn't have enough $ IB will terminate any open trades for yoor protection.

2) Yes you can add a stop. Simply place a stop order through TWS. i.e. change type to STP rather than MKT and put in the stop price. I strongly suggest you read the TWS manual...

3) Say you are long 1 contract simply sell 2 contracts. That leaves you 1 short.

JonnyT

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Trading Mentor

frugi

1. Yes. You can trade from Sunday 18:00 - Friday 17:00 EST but Globex is closed daily for CME/IB daily maintenance from 16:15-16:30, 17:30-18:00, and 23:45-00:15 EST

I have not heard of the 15:45-16:15 rule, although margin requirements increase, double I think, after 15:45 when requirements change from intraday to overnight. This can mean some small retail traders have to exit positions before 15:45 due to lack of margin.

2. Yes, easily. If you have, say, a long open then click on the bid price and change order type from MKT or LMT to STP or STP LMT. Then enter the stop price and hit transmit. You can set the default order type, i.e limit, market, stop etc. by clicking on Configure>>Order>>Order Defaults from the toolbar at the top of the screen. The default order type is the order that appears when you click the bid or ask price for any instrument.

If you want you can set a limit along with your stop and make them part of an OCA (one cancels all) group which can be handy if you need to go out with a trade open. Whichever is hit first will cancel the other(s).

3. Click on the bid price, change the number of contracts to double your open position and leave the order where it is, ensuring it is a market order. You would probably want your default order type to be market MKT in this case. Then all you'd have to do to reverse would be hit transmit.

Technically limit orders will be filled a tiny bit quicker than a market order as TWS converts market orders to limits which Globex recognises. So for a reversal sell order you could change it to a limit and ensure the limit price is well below the market price, that way it is guaranteed to be filled.

Someone may know a quicker way of reversing a position.

Thanks for the card! HTH.

Ahh I've been beaten to it by JT anyway As he says it is a good idea to read the manual and check the different order types on the IB website. TWS is quite powerful and if u need it to be and can be a little confusing for the first few days.

clylbw

Thanks to both of you indeed. Glad you like the card Frugi.

One more thing if I may. Is there an up tick requirement in Eminis? For example, if I want to short NQ or ES, do I have to wait for an up tick before I can short it, as it is the case with the stocks? Or can I short it without the up tick?

Thanks really.

Quercus

You can do what you like when you like, and TWS will do what you tell it to do in the blink of an eye!
Like those before me I recommend that you become very comfortable with TWS before entering the market for real, unless of course you want to learn from example like myself.
In the early stages I had some nightmare scenarios with the platform, which were entirely my fault. Eg. - doubling up on losing positions while attempting to place a stop, or closing a good trade when attempting to move a stop, etc.etc....
You'll soon pick it up I'm sure, and the new DoM thingy may have made it easier to use. The other alternative is to use a front-end API, of which there are many. I use NinjaTrader myself which costs $30 per month, and has great functionality including a market-weighted simulation platform. I'm in no way associated with this programme but can't praise it enough, and after all it's only 0.75 ES pts a month, and I cost myself WAY more than that every thirty days!
Cheers
Q

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Mighty Oaks from little acorns grow!

JonnyT

The uptick rule only applies to Stocks. You can do whatever you want with futures.

Remember to RTFM

JonnyT

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Trading Mentor

osho67

Thanks to everybody as I have learnt few things. Understanding TWS manual is very difficult-not very user friendly.

Can I somehow practice on IB realtime during weekdays with live realtime feeds. (not on TSIM+)

Thanks

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clylbw

Many thanks indeed.